PIRELLI WITH WORLD CHAMPION FABIEN BAREL DEVELOPS THE NEW RANGE OF SCORPION TIRES FOR GRAVITY RACING.
Source: press release
Pirelli announces the technical partnership with the three times world champion of Downhill for the development of a new line of Scorpion MTB tires dedicated to the DH and Enduro racing world.
Just 2 years after the arrival on the market of its mountain bike tires, the Scorpion MTB, Pirelli is working at full speed on a new line of tires, specifically dedicated to the world of Gravity racing.
In the long process of research and prototyping, which began two years ago and which today leads to the final phase of development, the Pirelli engineers have involved an absolute star of the firmament Downhill: the French Fabien Barel.
Fabien needs no introduction: the three-time world champion (in addition to a bronze and a silver) and seven-time national DH champion left competitions in 2015 and today he collaborates on various projects, as a technician and consultant in the world of Gravity, in addition to testing e-enduro.
His considerable experience in the Gravity disciplines, combined with extreme driving sensitivity and great technical competence on all aspects and components of MTB, make him the ideal partner for Pirelli, for the development and continuous improvement of its products.
The new Scorpion tires dedicated to the Gravity racing world are already a reality at a prototype level and already severely tested by Barel. Today they can be found on the mountain bikes of some athletes and teams, who will take them to the EWS and WORLD CUP DH circuit, putting the R&D work carried out by Pirelli technicians together with Fabien to the test of the time trial, already in 2021.
The discipline Downhill has always been recognized as the most rigorous and demanding laboratory in terms of product stress. It's the perfect and definitive test bench where you can take tires to the limit in all their aspects, from reliability to extreme grip. Parameters such as absorption and low rolling resistance should not be overlooked, increasingly determining factors in the modern racing world, where the level of performance is so high and the differences between riders minimal, that even the smallest performance improvements can bring the strongest riders in the world from an anonymous placement to a victory.
A way of operating, in constant product development, which Pirelli also knows well from other sports and which is an integral part of its DNA: continuous research and evolution. From MX to WRC to all two and four-wheel motorsport in which the transition to DH is present, it is a natural leap for Pirelli.
“Pirelli's involvement in the MTB Gravity racing world is a great opportunity for everyone - said the French champion - Pirelli is a global leader in the production of tires as well as having an enormous sporting record. And when it comes to racing, having the skills of the best is an asset for everyone, because it takes both performance and sport to the next level. I strongly believe in Pirelli's technical skills and in their ability to best interpret the needs of the MTB world. There is already a solid line of Pirelli MTB tires on the market, my job is to help complement it with models dedicated to racing, which lead to the successes the company has already achieved in many other sports. Let's think, for example, of Formula 1, motocross or Superbike. The clear and declared objective of these new tires is to reach the top step of the podium. "
